From the Field: Eating our way to a healthier planet

Families in Turkana are using irrigation farming to grow food during the prolonged drought in Kenya.

The UN Food Systems Summit demonstrated the huge imbalances in the way we grow, produce, and consume food. But, as the UN Development Programme (UNDP) shows, we can farm and eat in a sustainable way that is good for us, and the planet.

Women farmers carry their latest rice crop on bikes in Huế, Vietnam., by UNDP/Ho Ngoc Son

The UNDP says that agricultural food systems can be created in a way that ends poverty, eradicates hunger, and reduces inequality. The development agency works with families and farmers around the world, to ensure that nutritious food gets to those who need it most.

“Repurposing agricultural support to shift our agri-food systems in a greener, more sustainable direction can improve both productivity and environmental outcomes,” says UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. “It will also boost the livelihoods of the 500 million smallholder farmers worldwide — many of them women — by ensuring a more level playing field.”

Find out more here.